How to put those gift cards you got for Christmas to good use

The holiday season generally brings gifts of cash and gift cards. We're …

It's the age of gift cards. They're ubiquitous, they don't require you to guess what the recipient wants, and best of all—at least from my perspective—they don't need to be wrapped. Chances are you got some yesterday. And if not yesterday, at some point this month. So what do you do with them?

We'd like to hear from you on this one. If you had $50 to spend on any any gadget or gizmo, what would it be? It could be hardware, software, or even an accessory—it doesn't matter. It just needs to be relatively cheap and hopefully useful.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

Buy a Roku LT. 720p video, 802.11n support, and access to the full range of Roku video content (including Netflix and HBO GO)—all for $49.95.

Get a 32GB USB flash drive. Sometimes the sneakernet is the best alternative for file transfer, and with prices for 32GB flash drives well below $50, this is an easy choice.

Chime in below with your suggestions and we'll promote the best ideas into this post.

cateye:
Memory upgrades aren't very sexy, but if I ended up with a Newegg or MicroCenter or wherever gift card for $50, that'd probably be first on my list. Can always use more memory.

TheSpike: Surge suppressor with remote control. Perfect for out of the way places, like the power supplies for your home theater setup.

barkingfoodog: $50 gets you a year-long subscription to BackBlaze, which is the offsite mired backup service I use.

mikshan: I ordered a Kobalt 29-Piece Double Drive Screwdriver Set with Holster
from Lowe's

66 Reader Comments

I tend to use giftcards for XBOX or PS3 games that I wouldnt buy with my own money. I like playing online, but wouldnt buy BF3 because of the reviews of single player ( I always enjoy the SP more, online is just a few times a week with buds). Today I get to pick it up at no cost to me.

The wife got me a Roku LT for Xmas and I'll give it a recommendation too. I have a HTPC, so I wasn't really considering a Roku, but the LT's sub-$50 price made it attractive. I also recommend giving the PlayOn streaming software a try if you get a Roku (allows you to stream a few things from your PC to the Roku that aren't available on the Roku otherwise, like ESPN3 and some of the Hulu content that is otherwise restricted from the Roku).

Whatever you do, be wary of certain gift-card selling 3rd party websites. PlasticJungle.com approved a few gift card I was selling instantly but has had some nebulous status updates without actually posting my payment (Amazon gift code) for a few days now. Nice looking website, but wow am I deflated after I looked at their reseller ratings (stupid oversight on my part).EDIT: No direct reply from the Plastic Jungle customer service inquiring about this sale but about 12 hours after the plasticjungle website changed to "electronically delivered" the Amazon gift codes did show up in my account and amazon sent emails when their gift cards were purchased. I don't plan on using this Plastic Jungle company in the future with such spotty communications though.

I really hoped for a credit card co gift card rather than vendor specific one this year... I want to get a few Lensmate filters for the Canon S95 I picked up.

@slaimusIt's tough to draw down the last of those preloaded MC/Visa/Amex cards. Typically what I end up doing is keep track of the balance on the back of the card (with a small post-it or sharpie), buying food for <$20 (papa murphys pizza usually), and paying for the food with (card balance + cash). Telling the cashier the exact balance is impt, it's best if it's not a POS system that's authorizing total+tip like a restaurant usually will, and the cashiers are usually very helpful in situations where you may tip.

I actually have this very same situation as I got nothing but gift cards this year (well those, and a set of Weathertech floor mats - my GF knows me so well )

I have $65 on my iTunes account right now. Last year I got a similar amount and throughout 2011 I used that money for apps and eventually iTunes Match. Very flexible gift if you are under the iSpell

I love the idea of the Roku, but honestly get along fine using my PS3 as a media extender.

I do have $50 at Best Buy now. It will probably go to a computer perhiperal of some type. I might apply it to a Kindle just to have an e-reader. I also need 2 more USB mice for various projects, so, who knows?

I think without fail if I have a gift card I end up buying more than the card value when I go to redeem it. I hate carrying cards with just a couple bucks left on them. Because of that, I usually wait to use a gift card until I get the itch to buy something nice that I might not otherwise buy. Things like slightly fancier keyboards/mice, or an extra game controller for guests to use, or maybe a collector's edition of a game instead of the regular version.

However! I lucked out this year and my family gave me excellent, thoughtful gifts with nary a gift card in sight.

What I would also want to know is how to fully use those prepaid VISA cards from rebates. It seems everything with a rebate come in those cards now, and so many things this holiday had rebates.

One thing I found out you can do(Thanks to Newegg Cust Rep!) is buy a gift card with them. Then you don't have to worry about trying to make split purchases with them. or leaving some money on the card you can never use.

@slaimusIt's tough to draw down the last of those preloaded MC/Visa/Amex cards. Typically what I end up doing is keep track of the balance on the back of the card (with a small post-it or sharpie), buying food for <$20 (papa murphys pizza usually), and paying for the food with (card balance + cash). Telling the cashier the exact balance is impt, it's best if it's not a POS system that's authorizing total+tip like a restaurant usually will, and the cashiers are usually very helpful in situations where you may tip.

I used to work for a company that issued a few hundred thousand prepaid debit cards and wanted to chime in that Joe is spot-on with the above. Restaurants are bad for the assumed 20% tip. Gas stations are bad, too. I think they authorize for at least $50 if not $75 or $100 now.

Most retailers are good about knowing how to do a split tender transaction to get every last penny off the thing, but you do have to know what that balance is. We always had a website in addition to a toll free number you could use to check balance history, but a post-it stuck to the back works, too.

If I really had to spend the thing on a gadget or gizmo (as opposed to giving it someone else who could use it more than me) I could go withOption A: Head over to ThinkGeek and buy a Star Trek Enterprise pizza cutter ($25.00) and spend the rest on: What else? A Pizza. http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/on-sale/dea2/

Got small kids in the house that want to spill stuff on the keyboard? Got larger kids in the house that spill stuff on the keyboard? Got adults that are "drink stability challenged"?

Our grandkids are always splling stuff on the keyboard when they come over. My wife happened to mention a washable keyboard she had seen somewhere, did a little diggin around on the Best Buy web site and found the Seal Shield - Washable Keyboard, $40.98, $2.00 cheaper than if you got it from the company who makes it. Needed a new keyboard for one of the computers anyway. Gave Best Buy a call and ordered the seal shield using a $50 Best Buy gift card, shipping was free.

There are so few good gadgets at the $50 price point, and the $50 roku does sound tempting, but I say hold off on the impulse buy (if you have the willpower) and match that free 50 to get an Apple TV. And immediately jailbreak it. The vids I've seen of the jailbroken apple TV look AMAZING. Don't even waste it on a 32 gb USB stick, they're nearly useless nowadays with the cloud. If you really gotta buy, get some caffeinated lollipops and that one android app you have to pay for, or something from the iTunes store.. or boring stuff like printer paper. the $50 giftcard is a retail scam, don't go tech, save for something $80 or higher you actually want, trust me you'll thank yourself!!

I feel like the target market for Roku is people who don't want to pay for cable, making the HBO GO addition pretty much useless, and fairly misleading as a selling point. All the other services it supports can be purchased for standard subscription models that don't involve a cable bill.

What I would also want to know is how to fully use those prepaid VISA cards from rebates. It seems everything with a rebate come in those cards now, and so many things this holiday had rebates.

One thing I found out you can do(Thanks to Newegg Cust Rep!) is buy a gift card with them. Then you don't have to worry about trying to make split purchases with them. or leaving some money on the card you can never use.

Also use them to pay for things on web sites you don't trust with the information from your "real" credit cards, or those where you don't want to risk a cancellation fight. For example, for something that auto-renews, you can pay with the pre-paid credit card. Then if you want to keep it, change the payment information, and if you don't, just forget about it.

What I would also want to know is how to fully use those prepaid VISA cards from rebates. It seems everything with a rebate come in those cards now, and so many things this holiday had rebates.

Amazon lets you purchase gift cards for any amount. So I just buy myself Amazon gift cards once it's down to a relatively useless amount. They never expire, and anyone should be able to find something to buy at Amazon eventually.

To convert a BestBuy (or many other stores) gift card to Amazon credit, look for the Kindle cards that the brick and mortar retailers sell. I know that I'd personally usually find more utility in Amazon credit than in store credit at most retailers given the breadth of items that Amazon sells and their usually competitive pricing. It's obviously not as good as cash, but compared to the hit that you take either at the retailer itself or via selling it on ebay/plastic jungle, it's the next best thing.

At the risk of sounding even more like an Amazon commercial, I'd also recommend using gift cards for Amazon Prime. The 2 day free shipping alone is worth it and the fact that you get free streaming and books for kindle (even just the software) is a nice bonus.

Tip: I've found that for cash gift cards from VISA, MasterCard and the like, using the Square card reader on your iPhone to deposit the cash into a checking account is much more convenient than leaving a few bucks across multiple cards. The 2-ish% charge is worth it IMO.

First, I'd try to figure out where exactly I can USE that gift card. I got a $25 one from my boss (thanks, Boss!), and tried to use it at a restaurant. They came back 10 minutes later saying the machine would only let 80% of the money ring up on it. Not sure if that's just idiocy at that restaurant, or a real issue. That's the second time I've tried using a visa gift card there, and both times have been trouble.

a $50 card, though ... wow, that's like 1/2 the price of a 60gb SSD right there... Folks complaining about SSD's being expensive, they can't hold much, etc, etc. Just pop $100 to get a 60GB one, and use it as your Windows drive. I swear, you'll be kicking yourself for not having done it sooner. The latest gen of SSD's are good enough to wear-level for 5 years, almost all already support the TRIM command (and Win 7 supports TRIM by default), and Win 7 is smart enough to turn off defrag on SSD's.

First, I'd try to figure out where exactly I can USE that gift card. I got a $25 one from my boss (thanks, Boss!), and tried to use it at a restaurant. They came back 10 minutes later saying the machine would only let 80% of the money ring up on it. Not sure if that's just idiocy at that restaurant, or a real issue. That's the second time I've tried using a visa gift card there, and both times have been trouble.

Scroll up and read what ChefJoe said. Restaurants have to guess what additional tip you're going to leave, so most attempt to authorize the card for 20% more than the amount due, which is why you're hitting the limit. The waiter running the card likely has no idea what's going on or what the limits are. You'd likely have the same issue paying at the pump.

i just got two christmas cards that said "x amount transferred to your bank account" anyway gift cards are realy short lived money, some of them expires this time next year, while money lives on for 10+ years etc

Those Visa/MC/AMEX cards are a total scam. It says $50 gift card, but it's more like $52 to purchase it. Why waste $2 to give me a card I have to combine with another payment method when you can just give me cash??? Idiots.